The Cuban Revolution

Understanding the Insurrection and Seizure of Power [1952-1959]

Marifeli Pérez-Stable looks back at the Cuban Revolution through a sociological lens in her book The Cuban Revolution. Pérez-Stable claims that Cubans held national independence and social justice as goals ever since the end of the nineteenth century. Radical nationalism remained important in Cubans’ view of themselves and their ideals. Thus, Pérez-Stable argues that the origins of the Cuban Revolution of 1959 lie in the independence movement against Spain and the frustrations from the unfulfilled goals they had kept since before the turn of the century (Pérez-Stable 1998, p 4).

In the introduction of The Cuban Revolution, the author lists six factors which made Cuba "susceptible" to radical revolution (it is interesting to note that Pérez-Stable is essentially giving no credit to the 26th of July Movement and Castro, but rather she is noting how the Cuban society was susceptible to revolution). The six factors listed are: mediated sovereignty, sugar-centered development, uneven modernization, the crisis of political authority, the weakness of the clases económicas, and the relative strength of the clases populares (Pérez-Stable, p 7). The vicious circle with the U.S. and sugar plays a big role in the situation and in the 1950’s. As Pérez-Stable points out, without sugar there could be no Cuba, but there is no benefits to sugar without the U.S. market. The importance of social classes was also paramount, especially the unionized working class.

On a more political level, Pérez-Stable discusses the anti-Platt politics and the implications of the Constitution of 1940. According to Pérez-Stable, "The Constitution of 1940 reestablished democracy and r...

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...tions that may have weakened or slowed its progress. The revolutionary government of Grau San Martín was a good example of how too many unions during the rise of a movement starts to be counterproductive. The coalition formed under Grau San Martín never succeeded, in part, because nobody in the coalition was fully satisfied. The left never felt that Grau was radical enough, and the influence from the right eventually swayed Grau in their direction. In both 1933 and 1959, the communists wanted a "full" revolution, and thanks to the Castro’s narrow revolution strategy, a full revolution succeeded. The small nature of the revolution allowed Castro to direct it exactly as he wanted to, and to avoid allies slowing him down. During this time, Castro and his barbudos were able to win over many peasants and urban people alike, and eventually gain the support of the nation.